Tracking SEO results shows what's working and what needs adjustment. Bryan Collins explains which metrics matter, which to ignore, and how to measure SEO progress correctly.
Tracking SEO results is how you know what’s working, what needs adjustment, and whether your investment is generating a return. After 30 years in SEO, here are the metrics that actually matter and how to track them.
The Hierarchy of SEO Metrics
Not all metrics are equally important. Prioritize:
- Business outcomes (calls, form submissions, bookings, revenue) — the real goal
- Traffic quality (organic search visitors who match your ideal customer) — drives outcomes
- Rankings (positions in search results) — drives traffic
- On-page signals (CTR, impressions) — influence rankings
- Vanity metrics (Domain Authority, PageSpeed score) — context only
Most small businesses track the wrong things (DA, score numbers) and ignore the right things (actual customer inquiries). Start with business outcomes and work backward.
Essential Tools to Set Up Before You Start
Before beginning any SEO work, establish your baseline:
Google Search Console (free):
- Crawl status and indexing issues
- Organic clicks, impressions, and average positions
- Which queries bring traffic to which pages
- Core Web Vitals performance
Google Analytics 4 (free):
- Overall traffic by source (organic, direct, referral, paid)
- Pages per session, bounce rate, engagement
- Conversion tracking (goal completions)
Google Business Profile Insights (free):
- GBP search views (how many people saw your GBP)
- Direct vs. discovery searches
- Phone calls from GBP
- Direction requests
- Website clicks from GBP
Call tracking (paid — CallRail, CallTrackingMetrics):
- Assigns a unique phone number to your website
- Records which page callers were on, how they found you
- Essential for attributing phone calls to SEO efforts
The Metrics That Actually Matter
1. Organic Phone Calls and Form Submissions
The #1 metric for local business SEO: how many customer contacts came from organic search?
How to track:
- Install call tracking before starting SEO (establishes baseline)
- Tag form submissions as conversions in GA4
- Track GBP phone calls in GBP Insights
If your organic traffic doubles but calls stay flat, something is wrong with your conversion path (landing page, phone number visibility, offer). Rankings and traffic are inputs; customer contacts are the output.
2. Organic Search Traffic
Where to find it: Google Analytics 4 → Acquisition → Traffic acquisition → Organic Search
What to look for:
- Month-over-month organic traffic trend
- Which pages receive the most organic traffic
- Which pages have declining traffic (may need updates)
Important caveat: GA4 shows “organic” broadly — this includes branded searches (people who already knew your name) and non-branded searches (people discovering you for the first time). Non-branded organic traffic is the more meaningful SEO growth indicator.
3. Keyword Rankings
Rankings tell you where you’re positioned for specific queries — and whether your optimization work is moving the needle.
Google Search Console:
- Performance → Queries → sort by Impressions
- See average position for every keyword bringing you traffic
- Filter by specific keyword to see position trend over time
Third-party rank trackers (Ahrefs, Semrush, Moz, BrightLocal):
- Track specific target keywords at specific locations
- BrightLocal is particularly useful for tracking Local Pack rankings separately from organic positions
Target tracking: Set up tracking for 10–20 of your most important keywords before starting. Track position monthly to see improvement (or decline).
4. Local Pack Performance (GBP Insights)
For local businesses, Local Pack performance is often more important than organic rankings.
GBP Insights shows:
- How many searches triggered your GBP listing (search impressions)
- How many people called from your GBP listing
- How many people clicked for directions
- How many people clicked to your website from GBP
Track these monthly. Increasing GBP impressions over time means your GBP is ranking for more searches. Increasing calls per impression means your GBP is converting better.
5. Google Search Console Click-Through Rate
Where to find it: Search Console → Performance → check “CTR” and “Impressions”
CTR (clicks ÷ impressions) tells you what percentage of searchers who see your result click on it.
Why it matters: A page ranking position 1 with 2% CTR is underperforming — average CTR for position 1 is 15–30%. Low CTR suggests your title tag and meta description aren’t compelling enough.
Sorting by impressions and filtering for pages with high impressions but low CTR identifies quick-win opportunities — pages that rank well but need better title/description writing to convert impressions into clicks.
6. Backlink Growth
Track: Number of new linking domains per month and domain authority of new links.
Why it matters: Backlinks are a primary ranking factor. A consistent increase in quality referring domains signals growing authority.
Tools: Ahrefs, Semrush, or Moz → Backlink profile → New referring domains (filter by month)
Metrics to Deprioritize
Domain Authority / Page Authority: Moz third-party scores, not Google metrics. Useful for relative comparison but not a goal in themselves.
Google PageSpeed score: Once you’re above 75 mobile (targeting 90+), additional improvements have diminishing ranking returns. Prioritize other work.
Total backlink count: Quality matters far more than quantity. 20 links from high-authority relevant sites > 500 links from spam directories.
Rankings alone: Rankings without conversion data are incomplete. A position 1 ranking that generates no calls due to poor user experience or irrelevant intent is less valuable than position 3 for a keyword that converts consistently.
Reporting Cadence
Monthly review:
- GBP Insights (calls, views, direction requests)
- Search Console performance (clicks, impressions, top queries)
- GA4 organic traffic trend
- Call tracking data
Quarterly review:
- Keyword ranking progress vs. targets
- Backlink growth
- Competitor comparison
- Content performance (which articles drive the most traffic)
Frequently Asked Questions
What are the most important SEO metrics to track? The most important SEO metrics: organic search traffic (Google Analytics), keyword rankings for target keywords, Google Business Profile views/calls/directions, conversion actions (calls, form submissions, bookings), Google Search Console clicks and impressions, and backlink growth. For local businesses, GBP calls and Local Pack visibility are particularly important.
What SEO metrics should I ignore? Metrics to deprioritize: Domain Authority/Page Authority (third-party estimates, not Google metrics), keyword density percentages (not a ranking factor), total backlink count without quality filter, and Google PageSpeed score above 75 (diminishing returns). Rankings alone without conversion data are also incomplete.
How do I track keyword rankings? Use Google Search Console (free — shows impressions and average position for all queries), Ahrefs, Semrush, or Moz rank tracking (paid — track specific keywords at specific locations). For local SEO, BrightLocal’s Local Rank Tracker shows Local Pack vs. organic rankings for specific keywords from specific cities.
How do I track phone calls from SEO? Use call tracking: CallRail, CallTrackingMetrics, or similar services assign a unique phone number to your website. When someone calls that number, it records which page they were on, how they found your site, and call duration. This lets you attribute phone calls to specific SEO efforts. Google Business Profile also shows calls directly from the GBP listing in GBP Insights.
How long does it take to see SEO results? Timeline varies by competitive intensity: GBP optimization improvements appear in 30–60 days. New content typically reaches its ranking potential in 3–6 months. Domain authority improvements from link building accumulate over 6–18 months. For new websites with no prior authority, 6–12 months of consistent effort before significant organic traffic is realistic.
What is the best free tool for tracking SEO results? Google Search Console is the best free SEO tracking tool — it shows organic clicks, impressions, average position, and which queries bring traffic to each page. It’s data directly from Google, making it the most authoritative source for search performance. Google Analytics 4 tracks overall site traffic and conversions. Both are free and should be set up before beginning any SEO work.
How do I track local SEO performance? Track local SEO with: Google Business Profile Insights (views, searches, calls, directions from GBP), BrightLocal Local Rank Tracker (Local Pack and organic rankings from specific locations), Google Search Console (organic click data including local queries), and call tracking software. GBP Insights is the most important dashboard for most local business owners.
Bryan Collins is an SEO consultant based in Piscataway, NJ, with 30+ years of experience helping small businesses grow through content and search. He is a U.S. Marine Corps veteran and the author of Why Your Website Isn’t Ringing.